USA > Vermont > The Lake Champlain and Lake George valleys, Vol II > Part 35
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This area has glorious religious traditions. The wonderful set- ting of natural beauty pervading this entire section provides an atmosphere of worship. Nowhere is the Infinite more real than among the mountain peaks. There is no religious figure in our his- tory more heroic than that great Jesuit missionary, Isaac Jogues. When he made his way up these valleys to martyrdom among the Mohawks he clothed these waterways with a spiritual mantle that will last as long as time endures. The first shrine was erected at
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the northern end on Isle LaMotte to Ste. Anne as early as 1666; while in the south the pure waters of Lake George have been trans- ported to distant places for sacramental purposes.
The Indian also has a definite place in the religious story of this section. Although the early missionaries had little success with the Iroquois by direct teaching, the latter were profoundly influenced by Christian Algonquins whom they captured. Braves of several Indian races at one time or another became preachers in this area, ministering to whites and red alike. The churches built by English, French and Dutch settlers in their turn lived up to the highest traditions of service.
For some reason or other both Vermont and New York seem to have been fertile ground for the unusual in religious history. Mor- monism originated in these states and although its main genesis was from outside the boundaries of these eleven counties, nevertheless some of the roots extended into this district, for example, in Middle- town, Rutland County. Among the sects originating mainly from within this area the most phenomenal growth was attained by a relig- ious group known variously as Millerites, Second Adventists, and Seventh Day Baptists.
The founder of this sect was a native of Massachusetts named William Miller. He was at first a prosperous Green Mountain farmer and also served as a recruiting officer in the War of 1812. Originally he was very much of an atheist, but he later accepted Christianity and joined the Baptist Church. In the meantime he migrated to Low Hampton, Washington County. He became convinced that he had discovered the key to unlocking Biblical prophecies and began to preach in 1831 that the end of the world would come in twelve years and that Jesus would appear in person to judge the world sometime between March 21, 1843, and March 21, 1844. Vast multitudes, including ministers of other denominations, became his followers. So strong was the movement that the Baptist organization was forced to exclude its entire church in Pownal, Bennington County, on grounds of heresy. Great excitement pervaded the population as the critical time approached. All believers made ready for the appearance of Christ, and economic pursuits were neglected. When Jesus did not appear, as scheduled by Miller, they were stunned, but most of them apparently believed that the failure was due only to minor miscalcu-
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lations and that the correct millenium was not far away. At a conven- tion in Albany in 1845 the Millerites issued a declaration of their beliefs and adopted the name Adventists. At that time there were 50,000 followers. Miller, himself, died in 1849, but his church con- tinued to grow despite repeated disappointments and a certain amount of persecution by other religious groups. This sect exists today in greater numbers than at the time of Miller's death. Among its unusual tenets is the celebration of the Sabbath on Saturday.
In the religious picture of the present day some colors are bright while others are drab. There are great spirit and self-sacrifice on the part of a few and religion cannot die while they carry the cross. On the other hand church attendance is extremely poor and not improving, at least in the Protestant churches. The rural towns are marked by deserted church buildings and many others that soon may be closed. One of the brightest rays that shine through the clouds is a growing tolerance for, and an increased fellowship with, other denominations. No longer is it considered advisable to whip children, or turn them away from home, when they show interest in any other except the family variety of religion. Less and less does the divergence of theological belief affect social relations between neighbors. The various relig- ious denominations all seek the perfection of the individual. It is true that they use different trails up the rocky mountainside to attain the summit, but the nearer the peak they get the nearer the trails run. Isaac Jogues certainly reached the crest and all religious groups cher- ish his memory : Catholic and Protestant, Jew and Gentile.
EDUCATION
From the very beginning of the settlement of these counties the importance of education was recognized. In the land grants them- selves, there were reservations for the support of schools. Although the buildings were very crude, the teachers for the most part poorly trained, and attendance haphazard these defects were due to unavoid- able circumstances existing in those times and not to any lack of inter- est, or loss of faith, in education. In the fierce fight necessarily waged by the early pioneers to survive nature's inexorable laws and Indian massacres and to wrest a mere living from the treacherous wilderness, the wonder is not that education fell so far short of present standards but that it existed at all. Before any school buildings were constructed
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the ability to read and write was handed down from parents to chil- dren in the primitive homes. The Bible was often the only textbook.
The first schoolhouses were built of logs and as a rule were so poorly constructed that dairy farmers of the present day would scorn to keep their cattle inside. Sometimes the roofs were shingled with shakes of ash or cedar, while in other places they were covered with bark. Lighting facilities were very poor, there being but one small half-sash window in each sidewall. The only heat was from a stone fireplace at one end of the room. In one corner was an old-fashioned door with its wooden hinges and leather latch-string. Around three sides of the room were writing benches which were fastened to the walls. In front of them were rough hardwood slab benches on which all those who were old enough to write were seated. In the center of the room there were lower seats for small pupils.
"There was no school law, no school board, no supervision, no certificating system-simply a teacher. He probably knew little about books; but he knew much about children. He did not teach for wages; he taught to accommodate. He was not versed in pedagogy; but he knew how to get results. He did not sense the fine distinctions in methods, but he felt his responsibility. His library consisted of a few books, among which was the Bible; his kit was composed of some goose-quills, a pen-knife, an ink-pot, and possibly an abacus or a horn- book. There were no blackboards, no chalk, no slates, no blocks of paper. Pebbles were used for number work, chips for tablets, and ink could be made from the inner bark of the red maple. The teach- ing was crude and unorthodox, but the homely virtues of every day life were thoroughly taught. The school-houses were humble and primitive, but they were the breeding places of those qualities that make men and nations great." (Stone, Mason S .: "History of Educa- tion, State of Vermont.")
In the morning and also in the afternoon, sessions were opened with readings from the Bible and a prayer. The schools were ungraded and instruction was individualized. Reading and arithme- tic were fairly well taught, but the greatest success was attained in the teaching of spelling and writing. In these two fields graduates were more proficient than in this present day. Maps, charts, globes, dictionaries, models, and the now usual schoolroom ornaments were
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then lacking. According to the educational philosophy of those times, to spare the rod was to spoil the child. Formal discipline was rigidly enforced and floggings were an everyday occurrence. The teacher was expected to rule with the iron fist of a dictator, while conversely it was the eternal ambition of the older boys to throw the teacher out. Numerous narratives dealing with fierce clashes between master and pupils have come down to us. Typical of these is the story of the Chittenden County youth who suddenly drawled: "Well, boys, I'm goin' berryin'; who's comin'?" Several others rose to take their part in the revolt. In the ensuing conflict, however, the teacher man- aged to knock out the ringleader with a stove poker and the rebel- lion subsided. Sometimes, the teacher was not so successful and was flogged in the same manner in which he had previously punished them. In addition to instruction and the maintenance of discipline, the mas- ter also did the janitorial work and made quill pens for the entire school. He boarded around with the parents of his pupils, the length of time at each place depending on the number of children attending school and the length of the session. Whenever teachers were given remuneration, payment was frequently made with goods rather than cash, one teacher being paid in wheat at the rate of one bushel, then worth four shillings, per week.
According to Stone, Vermont was the first State in the Union to provide in its fundamental law for a complete and closely articulated system of education, ranging from the primary school to the univer- sity. Its Constitution of 1777 provided that : "A School or Schools shall be established in each town by the Legislature, for the convenient instruction of Youth, with such Salaries to the masters, paid by each town, making proper Use of School-lands in each town, thereby to enable them to instruct Youth at low Prices ;- One Grammar School in each County, and one University in this State, ought to be estab- lished by the Direction of the General Assembly." This State's first school law was passed in 1782 and provided for the division of towns into independently administered districts, a system which was not com- pletely renovated for over a century. Each district was under the more or less autocratic authority of a committeeman. Finally, in 1893, the various districts had become absorbed into township units, which were governed by town boards of school directors. Town superintendents were provided for in 1845 and they had nearly a continuous existence
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until 1915. The position was permissively restored in 1923. County supervision was also first provided in 1845, but this was not of long duration, the office of superintendent being abolished in 1849 as unneces- sary. A return to county supervision was provided in 1889, however, each town electing a member of a county board, which chose a county supervisor. This attempt also proved to be abortive and was given up after twenty months. In 1906, as a result of trial-and-error in the field of supervision, provision was made for what is known as union supervision. Under this law any two or more towns possessing a given total number of schools might form a union for purposes of employing a superintendent who was to devote his entire time to education. In 1915 this district form of supervision became mandatory, although communities of a given size were permitted to have their own official. The compulsory features of this law led to the inevitable reaction and in 1923 this uniform system of supervision was broken down. Towns now were permitted to choose from any one of three systems-union supervision, town supervision and the supervising principal. Some com- munities expressed their preference for one method, some for another and that is the way the matter now rests. However, union supervision is the most widely used variety.
Prior to 1827 there was no State system of supervision in Ver- mont, and even then it was not made to function properly until 1845. Since the latter date it has continued without cessation. A State board of education was created in 1856 and served until abolished in 1874. From then until 1915 State superintendents were elected by the General Assembly, but since then the heads of Vermont's educa- tional system have been selected by another State board. Since 1931 the Commissioner of Education has been Francis L. Bailey. Of the five members now comprising the State board two reside in the Cham- plain Valley counties : Chairman, Bert L. Stafford, of Rutland; and Leslie A. Evans, of Essex Junction.
In New York State also, the evolution of educational supervi- sion and control is a complicated story. In 1784 a corporation was created to be known as the Regents of the University of the State of New York, which was to provide a system of education for the State. It tended to be aristocratic in nature and was primarily concerned with the chartering and control of colleges and academies. Mean- while popular sentiment was increasing in favor of an organized sys-
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tem of elementary education. Although the Regents had authority to enter this field they chose not to do so to any serious extent, with the result that finally, in 1854, a Department of Public Instruction was created. For fifty years, until 1904, New York State tolerated this dual system of supervision. At that date the two separate organiza- tions were merged into one. New York was the first State in the Union to create the office of a State Superintendent of Education, in 1812. The position was abolished later because of politics, the duties then being performed by the Secretary of State. Finally, in 1854, the office was reestablished. Since 1904 the title of the State's leading edu- cational executive has been Commissioner of Education. The present incumbent is Dr. Frank P. Graves, who has served in that capacity since 1921. Previous to that time he was dean of the School of Education at the University of Pennsylvania.
Provision was made for the division of New York State into school districts in 1812, each unit to be under the charge of three trustees. In 1841 a crude attempt was made at county supervision but the office of county superintendent was abolished in 1847. Town superintend- ents were also outlawed in 1856, at which time one school commis- sioner was created for each assembly district. This system continued in effect until 1911, when it was superseded by the present district superintendent method. One to eight of these superintendents were to be selected in each county depending on its size and geographical characteristics. The only changes in supervision recently have been the raising of qualifications for the selection of district superintend- ents and the enlargement of their districts as the schools become cen- tralized.
Although the enlargement of local units of education had been favored by administrators for some time, there was not great success in selling the idea to the public until generous financial assistance was provided by the State. Since that time a large number of central school districts have been created, resulting in a steady decrease in the number of small one-room schools. In this movement toward larger school units the counties in the northeastern part of the State have taken an active part, particularly Essex, Warren and Clinton. On the other hand, for reasons of geography, the central districts in this area are, and must be, smaller than in certain other sections of the State.
There have been varied methods of financing education in the two States. Vermont's first law, passed in 1782, provided that one-half
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the school money should be raised on the grand list of the inhabitants of the district, while the other half could be raised either by the same manner or by subscription according to the number of children each person desired to send to school. Amendments were later made, but from then until 1839 the school tax was raised on the aggregate grand lists of the inhabitants of the districts ; whereas after 1839 it was based on the actual grand list. Free public education was not provided until 1864, when a law was passed that the entire support of the schools should be paid by taxation. Because of the inequality existing among the towns and among districts in the towns, Vermont, in 1890, levied a State tax of five cents on a dollar of the grand list, the money to be divided according to the number of legal schools. This was later increased and other State funds were provided for education. The first law providing State aid for school transportation and board was passed in 1906. Throughout the history of Vermont, there has been a tendency for the State to assume more and more responsibility in education, and to look upon it as primarily a State function.
In New York, the law of 1795 provided $50,000 to be distributed among the schools for five years as an experiment, but at the expira- tion of that period the arrangement was not renewed. In 1805, how- ever, a permanent school fund was created from the sale of vacant State land. Its income was increased by lotteries and a certain amount of bank stock. This money was to be the financial basis of the division of the State into school districts in 1812, the interest from the fund being apportioned among counties and towns on a population basis, and then to the districts, according to the number of children. Each town was required to raise as much money locally as it received from the State. A so-called free school law was passed in 1849, only to be pronounced unconstitutional four years later. Almost immediately (1853) other legislation was passed which met constitutional require- ments. This State's schools did not become really free, however, until 1867, when the rate bill was abolished. When New York embarked on its central school program, the matter of State aid was drastically changed. Here, as in Vermont, it had become a habit to regard education as a State function. Since larger local units were considered necessary and since additional State financial aid was needed to persuade taxpayers of the economic wisdom of larger units, the amount of State funds ear- marked for education increased rapidly. In addition to money pro-
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vided before 1925 for both union free school districts and the small common school units, the State promised to pay one-fourth the cost of school buildings, and one-half the expense of transporting pupils.
Both states have an interesting history in the teacher-training field. The first normal school anywhere in the United States was opened at Concord, Vermont, in 1823, by Rev. Samuel Read Hall. Since the site of this institution is in the extreme eastern part of the State far beyond the boundaries of this research, its detailed history does not belong here. On the other hand both the normal school and its founder greatly influenced education here as well as elsewhere. Hall wrote the first pedagogical textbook ever published in America and was the first person to introduce the blackboard to the school room.
There are at present three normal schools in Vermont, located at Castleton, Johnson and Lyndon. Only the first-named is located in the western tier of counties, however. It developed, through a suc- cession of changes, out of Rutland County Grammar School, which was chartered in 1787. Its status as a normal school was formally sanctioned in 1869. Since the World War it has survived two crises. One was political by nature : a determined effort being made in 192 1 to close down the small teacher-training institutions and replace them with a modern teachers' college located in Burlington, where proper facilities existed. This, however, was doomed to failure because of the hostility of a portion of the Legislature toward Burlington. In 1924 the building at Castleton was destroyed by fire, and for a second time there was danger that the end of this normal school was at hand. By 1927, however, the Legislature appropriated funds for a dormitory, and the institution was assured at least temporary survival. The present principal, Caroline S. Woodruff, has been the head of Castleton Nor- mal School since 1920. There is also a teacher-training course at the University of Vermont, with Bennett C. Douglass as director.
Just as in Vermont the teacher-training institutions developed out of county grammar schools, so in New York State the preparation of teachers was at first largely in the hands of the academies. In fact. the last of the so-called "training classes" were not abolished until 1935. The only real normal school ever established in our five New York counties was provided in 1889 for Plattsburgh. This was opened to students in 1890 and has the distinction of being the youngest nor-
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mal school in the State. For a period of thirty-five years, from 1898 to 1933, its administrative head was Principal George K. Hawkins. Since the latter date Dr. Charles C. Ward has been its executive head. Throughout its history, Plattsburgh Normal School has had fine leadership. One unusual feature was that in the twenty-year period following 1910 it trained commercial teachers for high schools. In 1929 the building and all its contents were destroyed by fire, but sessions continued without a break, and in 1933 the present structure was ready for occupancy.
With the exception of Plattsburgh Normal School, the only insti- tution of higher learning located in our five New York counties is Skidmore College at Saratoga Springs. It is devoted exclusively to the education of young women. The date of its incorporation was 1922, but its origin may be traced back to 1903, when its founder, Lucy Skidmore Scribner, began her activities in the interest of crea- tive education for young women. It is surprising, in view of its recent development, that it has a student body in excess of seven hundred, with a faculty of seventy-five members offering a really diversified curriculum. Not only does it seek to impart a liberal education, but also vocational training in several specialized fields. Henry Thomas Moore is president at the present time.
In Vermont there are six colleges, five of which are located in the Champlain Valley. The first Constitution of Vermont provided for a State university, but for various reasons the Legislature pre- ferred to adopt instead Dartmouth College in New Hampshire. An entire township was granted to it as an endowment, the only case on record in American education of a State providing material assistance to a collegiate institution located in another commonwealth. This might well have meant the death of the idea of a State university located in Vermont, but did not in this case. Those who, in 1785, befriended Dartmouth became, in 1789, the founders of the Univer- sity of Vermont, although the bill creating the new institution did not become law until November, 1791. Its active career began in 1801. The leader among those who agitated for the university was Ira Allen. In a memorial to the Legislature he offered 4,000 pounds in his own name and 1,650 more from his associates for the location of such an institution at Burlington. When the lawmakers balloted on its site there were eighty-nine votes for Burlington, twenty-four for Rut-
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land, five for Montpelier, one for Danville, one for Castleton, cne for Berlin and five for Williamstown. It was one of the first State colleges in our country. The main reason for the ten-year delay in organizing the University of Vermont can best be explained by the misfortune of its zealous partisan, Ira Allen. In 1795 he was sent to France to purchase equipment for the Vermont militia. He was detained in Europe until 1801 as a result of the seizure of the muni- tions by an English cruiser. When he returned to this country he found that his great estate had been sold to satisfy tax claims and that he was bankrupt. The university even sold most of the fifty acres he donated to it to meet its expenses.
The first commencement took place in 1804, at which time there were four members in the graduating class. The early years were characterized by struggle and poor attendance. As late as 1853 there was an enrollment of only one hundred and twenty-three. The Medi- cal College was incorporated in 1825, the College of Natural History in 1826, the University Institute in 1834, the State Agricultural Col- lege in 1865 (incorporated in 1864 as the Vermont Agricultural College ), and the Vermont Agricultural Experiment Station in 1888. The classes of the institution were opened to women in 1871. One distinction of this university was the great influence of one of its early presidents, the Rev. James Marsh, upon the development of Ameri- can Transcendentalism. Its present president, Guy Winfred Bailey, became its executive head in 1920. The greatest growth in the Uni- versity of Vermont has taken place since 1908, and today it is a robust institution, its great cultural influence pervading the entire State. If Ira Allen could now gaze on the present scene he would know that his efforts have been amply rewarded.
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